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Wow. Awful news. Kyle Rudolph is done for the season. You could tell he was struggling some with his hamstring against Pitt, but I didn't think it was this bad. With Eifert still not 100%, Mike Ragone is going to have to step up. Mike has had a history of stone hands so far, and it's hurt in key situations. His speed is worthless if he can't catch the ball.
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Definitely too late for a medical redshirt. He may very well be back next season depending on the status of the CBA at the end of the season. We'll have to see when that comes around. If a new CBA is in place, I think it's more likely that he's gone.Originally posted by JayRock
ND tight ends have the worst luck.Comment
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Jordan Prestwood a 3 star OL/TE guy from Florida decommitted.
Its between ND, FSU, and Florida.
Sucks about Rudolph too. I wonder if Kelly will get Alex Welch out there.Comment
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Huge loss for the Irish with Rudolph I do hope he comes back though.
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Pitt
The Good
- Armando Allen. This guy seems to be a mainstay here. He ran fast, quick, and hard yet again. His vision seems much better this year as well. He seems to be finding creases much better and it's helping him make larger gains.
- Cierre Wood. Good to see him have a nice bounce back game. Showed good vision and burst and did a good job of taking what was there and making the most of his runs.
- David Ruffer. Love this kid. I know he is a senior..but he's also a transfer. He has to have a season or two of eligibility left right?
- Kapron Lewis Moore. Where the hell has he been? Seemed to be MIA after the 3rd quarter of the Michigan game but bounced back real strong with this one. Made lots of plays in the run game and did a great job with pass rush.
-Ian Williams. The bandwagon is getting fuller with this guy but he yet again played excellent. Ian is a great example of what the new training tables, strength and conditioning program have done for this team.
-Prince Shembo. He always seems to be around the ball(quarterback) when he's in.
-Robert Blanton. Played an excellent game and he will need to keep coming up big with Gary Gray and Darrrin Walls being a little nicked up.
-Michael Floyd. Lots of big catches including what could have been the game sealing TD.
-Theo Riddick. Turning into a real electric player. His double juke move on the Pitt defenders was sick.
-Harrison Smith. All of the field making plays. Loved it. About time.
-Ben Turk. Holy cripes! Where the heck has that been?
-The offensive line. Namely the tackles. Gave up an early sack but for a couple kids getting their first real extended action against a very good Pitt DLine they protected Crist well and opened nice lanes in the running game.
-The teams mental toughness. This a game this team loses last year but they hung in and finished the ball game right.
The Bad
- Dave Wannstadt. Why the hell wasn't he running the ball more?
- The two Pitt touchdowns. Notre Dame made two mistakes all day on defense and it resulted in 14 points. Two undicisplined mistakes. And it cost them.
- Mike Ragone. That drop could have been REAL costly.
- Kyle Rudolph. I know the kid was playing really hurt but he still has to make that catch inside the 10.
The Ugly
- Kyle Rudolph injury. This is really all I could think of for here. Losing Rudolph hurts...a lot. Ragone and Eifert need to step up big time and hopefully they can. Alex Welch won't see the field this season so it comes down to these two. It's about time Ragone turned into the player he was supposed to be coming out of high school. He could make himself an NFL draft pick with a strong showing over the remaining games. Hopefully Rudolph heals and we have him back next season.
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Sorry for the lateness of this but I'm getting married tomorrow and the last week has been absolutely crazy. I most likely won't have a review up for the WMU as my wedding being at 2pm CST will not allow me to watch the game live and I'll be in Mexico for a week for my honeymoon. So I guess I'm taking a one week vacation from this.
Hopefully we win these next three games like we are supposed to. That would make us 6-3 heading into Utah, Army, and USC. 7-5 seems likely at this point and I think that's a solid showing from a team that started 1-3. At some point they will need to start winning games against top teams but this year is clearly a building block towards what Kelly wants to do over the long term. I can see the progress and am liking it thus far. I'd rather have a slower build back to the top then what we saw with Willingham and Weis, a metoric rise...then a soul crushing crash.
Take care fellow Irish fans.
Go Irish.Comment
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Congrats FirstTimer!Comment
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Getting married in the Fall on an Irish saturday no less.
In all seriousness, congrats, and have a good time in Mexico.Comment
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Western Michigan thoughts:
-Good to see Cierre have a good game. He needs to have these kind of performances every week.
-Aside from the fumble, Eifert looked good out there. I'm looking forward to seeing what he can do for the remainder of the season. On the other side of the line, KLM had another solid game.
-A couple of good hustle plays by Ethan Johnson. I'd really like to see his production rise.
-Manti Te'o continues to get a few hits a game that make you say "wow". He's looking to lay people out on every play.
-Another good game from Robert Blanton. He consistently beat receivers trying to block him and made plays on swing passes and outside runs.
-Once again, ND allowed the QB to escape the pocket and make some plays. The d-line needs to create more pressure off the edge.
-Crist continues to struggle with his accuracy. This needs to be his main focus this offseason. When he's making accurate throws, this offense moves down the field and is fun to watch. However, when he's off the mark, the offense sputters and looks like the '07 version.
-I liked the new jerseys, but I wish Adidas would make the monogram on the sleeves clearer with more distinguishable colors. You can barely make it out with the very light gold they have outlining the interlocking ND.
-Chris Watt was getting beat pretty badly by WMU's speed rusher. He's going to need to do better.
-I haven't seen a replay yet, so I don't know who the offensive PI was supposed to be called for it on TJ Jones' reception in the redzone. Regardless, I don't think any other receiver was in the vicinity of the pass, so I'm unsure why PI would be called on anyone else. That combined with the no call on the tackle on Floyd in the back of the endzone while the ball was in the air was puzzling. Two very questionable calls on the same drive.
The Irish move on to Navy next week, and I'm interested to see how they perform. The last time ND came out with the 3-4 defense against the Midshipmen, Navy moved the ball very efficiently. I'd like to see a lot of improvement here. I'd also like to see ND score and score early. Get up early, and force Navy get out of their comfort zone and pass. As witnessed in the last three games, if you make mistakes on offense and let them stick around, they will make the game too close for comfort to say the least.Comment
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I know a coaching change isn't likely to see drastic results in the first season, but this was easily the worst game since 2007. I know hindsight is 20/20, but Kelly should have held extra practices this week to prepare. The defense looked lost out there today. Guys couldn't shed blocks, couldn't tackle, couldn't cover, and couldn't decide what man was their assignment in some instances. I mentioned that using the 3-4 worried me given 2007, and I see nothing that dissuade my opinion today. It allows for Navy's linemen to get on the middle linebackers easily with their splits, and that essentially takes them out of the game since they don't shed blocks well.
The offense was a nightmare. That opening drive set the tone for the rest of the game. I didn't understand the gameplan at all. Why try to pound the ball and run the clock against a team that specializes in it. IMO ND needed to score early and score fast to take Navy out of the game, and only then would I want to see them run the ball.
I will not be surprised when there are rumblings of a QB controversy this offseason. Crist's accuracy has not shown much improvement over the season, and if today is any indication, he's regressed in this department. He will not hold on to the starting job unless his accuracy improves.
I'm just shocked at how unprepared the team looked. What a fucking awful week of preparation.Comment
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Not here to troll, just want to say that Notre Dame losing to Navy makes me feel a little better about LSU losing to Auburn. It still stings, but then I think that at least my school lost to an SEC West team, and not a service academy.
As a Catholic mick who has a casual interest in ND football, what the fuck is going on? I didn't catch the game because I was at the sports bar all afternoon. Interior defense get shredded or what? And where was the offense?
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Terrible gameplan on both offense and defense. Terrible preparation throughout the week. The defense looked like it was their first time seeing the triple option from the start, and it appeared that no adjustments were made during the course of the game. On offense, the gameplan was to play a ball control, rushing offense, and when it was too late, Crist couldn't hit anyone but Navy defenders when it mattered. He consistently underthrew his receivers and was off target for most of the day. Overall, just a fucking clusterfuck of a showing.
It also doesn't help that throughout the week Kelly seemed content to not use the extra practice time available (due to Fall break) to prepare for the game.Comment
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